Seized Canadians, Filipino Surveyors Of Swiss Mining Firm Freed In Mindanao

DAVAO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / June 5, 2008) – Tribesmen seized two Canadians and four Filipino surveyors of a Swiss mining firm, but freed them later on a remote village in Mindanao after divesting them of their equipment and money.

The Canadians Deth Triesen, 23, and Andrei Argamomob, 45, were freed late Tuesday afternoon along with their Filipino assistants Madong Turo, Johnny Malid Abundio Tanedo and Loreto Blanco in the town of Kiblawan in Davao del Sur province.

“Police forces are now tracking down the suspects,” Chief Inspector Querubin Simeon Manalang, the regional police spokesman, told the Mindanao Examiner.

The six are workers of the Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI), in Tampakan town in Davao del Sur.

Manalang said three B’laan tribesmen seized the surveyors after flagging down their vehicle on a remote Kiblawan village of Tacub. “They were briefly held, about two and a half hours, after the bandits thought the victims were carrying huge amount of money and freed them unharmed,” Manalang said.

He said the natives also confiscated the surveyor' geophysics equipment and computers, but returned them to its owners later Tuesday after a series of negotiations.

Manalang said many armed groups are also operating in the province, including the communist New People's Army (NPA), which had previously attacked the SMI.

B'laan tribesmen are opposing the mining operations in the province, saying, it is destroying their ancestral lands.

Police have already identified two of the three tribesmen who held the surveyors as Yot Salute and Pokok Betil.

In January, communist rebels raided the mining firm in Tampakan town and torched buildings and equipment.

The NPA accused SMI of plunder, land grabbing and environment destruction and said the attack was a punishment. The rebels said the raid was in response to a longstanding demand of indigenous people to put a stop to the firm's operations in the area.

Indigenous tribes were protesting the operation of the SMI, saying, the mining activities allegedly encroached into ancestral lands and caused pollution in rivers and streams in Tampakan, which is considered a watershed area. But it is believed to be one of the world's "best new large-scale copper gold mines," with an estimated 11.6 million tons of copper and 14.6 million ounces of gold.

SMI is partly owned by Xstrata, one of the world's largest mining companies based in Switzerland.

Rebel forces have previously raided other mining firms in Mindanao which refused to pay illegal taxation.

In March, more than 50 rebels also raided the Apex Mining Company in Maco town in nearby province of Compostela Valley. The NPA said it was a punishment for the firm's failure to pay so-called "revolutionary" taxes and for environment destruction.

Gunmen disarmed the firm's security guards and torched mining equipment.

Apex is partly owned by international mining company called Crew Gold Corporation based in London and has interests in Lefa Corridor Gold Project in Guinea; Nalunaq Gold Mine in Greenland; and the Maco Gold Mine in the Philippines.

Last year, NPA forces also attacked a private coal mining firm, the MG Mining Company, in Raja Kabunsuan village in Surigao del Sur's Lingig town.

The Philippines' largest Muslim rebel group, Moro Islamic Liberation Front, also warned mining firms to stay away from ancestral lands in Mindanao.

MILF rebels have previously attacked and killed 13 Filipino miners working for the Calgary-based TVI in Zamboanga del Norte province after they ignored warnings to stop operation in Mount Canatuan in Siocon town, a sacred altar to an indigenous tribe called the Subanon whose ancestors settled in the area centuries ago.

The Philippines is estimated to have at least US$1 trillion unexploited treasure trove of minerals and is promoting the rejuvenation of the mining sector to boost the economy and cut its budget deficit and debt. (Mindanao Examiner)

NPA Rebels Own Up Attack On Swiss Mining Firm In Southern Philippines

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Jan. 03, 2008) – Communist rebels claimed responsibility for the attack on a mining firm in the southern Philippines.

Rebels raided the Sagittarius Mines Inc. (SMI) in the town of Tampakan in South Cotabato early Tuesday, torching buildings and equipment and attacking a military post nearby.

Authorities said no one was injured or killed in the raid, which the New People’s Army (NPA) rebels claimed was a punishment for the giant Swiss mining firm accused of land grabbing, plunder and environmental destruction.

The rebels said the raid was in response to a longstanding demand of the people to put a stop to the firm’s operations in the area.

Gregorio Rosal, spokesman for the outlawed Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP), said rebel forces also seized a pistol, a shotgun, a two-way radio communication set from SMI guards during the raid.

He said rebels also fired deterrent shots at a nearby detachment of the Philippine Army in order to prevent soldiers from coming to the defense of the mining firm they are serving and in order to allow the unhampered withdrawal of the NPA rebels.

“The raid is an important milestone in the effort to put a stop to the firm’s destructive and plunderous (sic) mining operation, defend the ancestral domain of the B'laan tribe; protect the environmental balance of the Liguasan Marsh and the water supply of South Cotabato, North Cotabato, Sultan Kudarat and General Santos City areas; and resist the Arroyo regime's campaign to auction off the country's natural resources to big foreign capitalists,” Rosal said.

NPA forces have previously raided other mining firms in Mindanao which refused to pay illegal taxation. The attack sent a chilling warning to the government that the NPA can carry out offensive despite a massive military operation to crush the growing insurgency problems in Mindanao island.

Indigenous tribes were protesting the operation of the SMI, saying, the mining activities allegedly encroached into ancestral lands and caused pollution in rivers and streams in Tampakan, which is considered a watershed area.

Rosal said the locals are opposing plans by SMI to start open pit mining operations by 2010 in the hinterland villages of Bong Mal, Tablu, Danlag and Pulo Bato.

He said open pit mining operations are considered as among the most ecologically destructive method of mining as this wipe out entire forests and watershed areas.

SMI is partly owned by Xstrata, one of the world's largest mining companies based in Switzerland.

Tampakan is said to be one of the world's “best new large-scale copper gold mines,” with an estimated 11.6 million tons of copper and 14.6 million ounces of gold.

Rosal said the raid against the SMI was part of offensive operations against big foreign mining firms that plunder the country’s natural resources. He accused Manila of protecting mining firms, which have destroyed ancestral lands and polluted the environment and displaced indigenous people.

“The Arroyo regime lets big foreign mining companies siphon out billions of dollars worth of Philippine natural resources to the further detriment of the people's livelihood and the environment.”

“As the people intensify their struggle to assert national patrimony against the rapacity of foreign monopoly capitalists, the New People's Army will carry out more and more punitive actions in response to the people's demands to stop the unbridled rapacious and destructive operations of big foreign mining companies,” Rosal said.

In March last year, NPA rebels also raided a private coal mining firm, the MG Mining Company, in Raja Kabunsuan village in Surigao del Sur's Lingig town.

The NPA carted weapons taken from security guards at the mining headquarters after MG executives refused to pay illegal taxation imposed by the insurgents.

The NPA had been collecting so-called "revolutionary taxes" to support its armed struggle to overthrow the democratic government for a separate Maoist homeland in the Philippines.

The latest attack came days after the Communist Party of the Philippines (CPP) said the NPA has achieved significant military victories in 2007 and warned of more and bigger offensive this year. (Mindanao Examiner)

Australian Embassy Minister Visits Mining Site In Southern Philippines

SOUTH COTABATO, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Nov. 28, 2007) – Australian Embassy Minister and Deputy Head of Mission Stephen Scott visited the facilities of the Sagittarius Mines, Inc. (SMI) in South Cotabato’s Tampakan town.

SMI presented Scott its social and environmental management programs and projects. SMI is the main proponent of the Tampakan Copper-Gold Project.

Scott, who was welcomed by acting Mayor Pedro Cagas and acting Vice-Mayor Relly Leysa, toured the Maticura Field Trial Station where SMI personnel maintain a nursery of indigenous plant and tree species and a butterfly and insect farm.

Scott was also presented an update on the project at the SMI base camp in the village of Tablu. He was briefed on the project’s current technical and environmental activities and community engagement programs, said a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner on Wednesday.

He also inspected a drill rig and the SMI Competence Center where he was briefed on the community education and capability-building programs of the company.

While in Tampakan, Scott, accompanied by Mark Williams, SMI general manager, met with government officials and businessmen. Scott commended the socio-economic development initiatives of SMI at the pre-operating stage of the project.

“This is a good experience knowing the growing support of major stakeholders of the Tampakan project, which has a very significant potential to develop the community, the region and the country as a whole,” he said.

Williams, for his part, reiterated SMI’s commitment to invest in the sustainable development of the project’s in the area.

He said community projects being delivered by SMI to the host communities include education assistance to students at all levels, health care assistance to community members, and capability-building programs for residents.

SMI has also embarked on environmental protection initiatives, such as environmental baseline studies and reforestation and biodiversity programs, Williams said.

“We want to undertake every aspect of the project the right way, consistent with world’s best practices. Looking after the long-term welfare of our host communities and protecting the environment are fundamental to the way we do business,” he said, adding, “support to these community activities will be increasing as the project moves forward.”

Williams also reiterated SMI’s policy of giving preference to qualified local residents and companies in hiring project personnel and in sourcing supplies for operations. “No less than 90 percent of our work force is from the local communities,” he said.